The Australian Government has today announced that Australia and the United Kingdom have finalised negotiations and reached in-principle agreement on amendments to the Film Co-production Agreement between the two governments.
Negotiated as a side measure of the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement, Australia and the UK have agreed in principle to amendments that would update the co-production treaty and make it reflective of the practices and requirements relevant to today's screen production sector. The changes, once brought into force, would increase opportunities for Australia to participate in multilateral co-productions. Both Australia and the UK will now progress their respective domestic processes to seek formal agreement to the amendments which would bring them into force.
Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, said the co-production agreement provides an important pathway for the Australian screen industry to access international markets.
"Thank you to all those who worked diligently in reaching in-principle agreement on the amendments. I am pleased that one of our most utilised co-production agreements is one step closer to being modernised for a 21st century production environment," Minister Fletcher said.
"The Australia-UK Co-production Agreement has been in action since 1990, and I'm pleased that we have produced 51 productions with total budgets of $584 million under the agreement."
Memorable stories of cultural significance to both Australia and the UK created under this agreement include The Railway Man, Dirt Music, David Attenborough's Life in Colour and the upcoming production Shane, about cricket legend Shane Warne.
Australia's International Co-production Program delivers a range of benefits. Co-productions assist the Australian screen industry to compete in the global marketplace by facilitating access to a wide pool of talent, expertise and infrastructure available in each participating country. In addition, the costs of production are shared by participating countries.
Since the inception of the official co-production program in Australia in 1986, formal arrangements have been signed with 13 countries and resulted in 199 official co-production titles with total budgets of $2.0 billion that have either been completed or have commenced production (as at 30 November 2020).
